Camera-Critters #108: Formosan Blue Magpie 藍鵲 Urocissa caerulea

Formosan Blue Magpie (藍鵲), Urocissa caerulea

In 2007 National Bird Voting Campaign held by the Taiwan International Birding Association, Formosan Blue Magpie was voted as the Taiwan National Bird. With over 1 million votes casted worldwide, it gathered close to 50% of the vote. It is an endemic species of Taiwan, normally living in the lower altitude mountains of Taiwan.

One Sunday afternoon in mid-April, I was sitting in study when I heard cackling noise from outside. It did not sound like the bird sound that I normally heard. Looking out, I saw this Blue Magpie sitting on top of the tree branch. I quickly grabbed the D700 with the 85mm 1.4 lens and took the picture through the window glass.

I have seen the Formosan Blue Magpie in the wild before, but usually as a blink of blue on the tree top. We did went down stairs to the garden to check them out. There were two pairs of Blue Magpie, they flied away the minute they saw us approaching.

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